hand-holding headline worthy?
Many years ago, when I was a freshman in college, I wrote about the popular culture/media obsession with death and dying. Sounds morbid, I know, but if you take the front page of any newspaper (and I really mean ANY journal published frequently), more than your fair share of headlines will have something to do with deaths (e.g. fatal plane crashes, celebrity deaths, scuffles between the law enforcement good and the drug-dealing bad) or sickness [and how to avoid it]. Since my primary news source is the NYTimes.com, I thought I might use today's "Most Emailed" articles and "Most Searched Terms" to illustrate my point.
Exhibit A:
It's a strange, common thread that runs through these pieces, once you're looking for it. Just take a gander at the top 4 results: Aging (71 year-olds running 10ks in under 45 minutes!); arranged marriages for dead people (you can always count on the Chinese); hand-holding (boy do I have thoughts on THIS. Holding hands help protect you against pain hormones? pff.); fish oil after heart attacks (Omega-3s rule!). Until today, another article that was included on this list was written by a man who survived the airliner collision in Brazil. Death? Danger? Health risks? This is all part of my theory. Why the obsession with death and dying?
Exhibit B (Terms most searched on the website):
Brazil? (Horrible plane crash.) Iraq? (I think this one's pretty self-explanatory, though I'll admit I'm surprised people are still searching this, given the indifference of the American public.) Bush? (A morbid thought, just in general.) Amish? (Horrifying school shooting this week.)
I'd rather not draw any broad sociological conclusions from this observation, but on any given day, you will find that truth to what I say just by visiting your local newstand, or news website. A couple of other interesting questions raised: how well do the "Most Emailed" articles represent the demographic of a newspaper's website readership? Could it be that only middle-aged, at-risk heart patients email articles to one another?
Probably not. But for what it's worth, do check out the Dead Bachelor article. It's weird and kind of amazing.
Exhibit A:
It's a strange, common thread that runs through these pieces, once you're looking for it. Just take a gander at the top 4 results: Aging (71 year-olds running 10ks in under 45 minutes!); arranged marriages for dead people (you can always count on the Chinese); hand-holding (boy do I have thoughts on THIS. Holding hands help protect you against pain hormones? pff.); fish oil after heart attacks (Omega-3s rule!). Until today, another article that was included on this list was written by a man who survived the airliner collision in Brazil. Death? Danger? Health risks? This is all part of my theory. Why the obsession with death and dying?Exhibit B (Terms most searched on the website):
Brazil? (Horrible plane crash.) Iraq? (I think this one's pretty self-explanatory, though I'll admit I'm surprised people are still searching this, given the indifference of the American public.) Bush? (A morbid thought, just in general.) Amish? (Horrifying school shooting this week.)I'd rather not draw any broad sociological conclusions from this observation, but on any given day, you will find that truth to what I say just by visiting your local newstand, or news website. A couple of other interesting questions raised: how well do the "Most Emailed" articles represent the demographic of a newspaper's website readership? Could it be that only middle-aged, at-risk heart patients email articles to one another?
Probably not. But for what it's worth, do check out the Dead Bachelor article. It's weird and kind of amazing.
posted by brad board babe at 5:00 PM
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